A Forgotten Life

by Hannah O
(Texas)

Tepid drops of water leak from the topOf a desolate deserted wellCatching bits of sunlight as they trickle down.Amid the sands of grief at the bottom,A lone rose lies discarded in the murky depthBringing simple beauty to the long-forgotten well.Its soft fragrance muted in the mireThe perfume hovering in the air like a rainbowIt lies forlorn in the darkness, gasping for breathAnticipating the fleeting breath of lifeWhen golden sunlight streams down from the heavensOr when the moon sheds silver on the black mouth of the well.In the night, it soaks up the lustrous light Created by a silent path of starlight.The wind sighs overhead, like the soundOf crushed velvet rubbing against glass.The rose settles in the shadows againAfter the light passes and waits.

Some dare to seize the one good,In the depths of the ancient well,And lean against the timeworn stonesTo draw up the beckoning rose.But upon reaching for its slender stemThe thorns attack back, embracing its enemyCausing blood to course from the hands of its foe.Thus sustained on the nutrients of the blood,Soaking it in, drinking its fill of the crimson fluid, Thereby creating its vibrant bold red color,The rose clings to a hopeful thread of life.

Rain seeped into the heavy sand,Till it sparkled like a luminous opalAnd made the rose gleam like a rubyBaptized and renewed for a split secondBut only to be deluged in the mud.When the misty rain ceased to refresh,And its purpose became to drownAdding a thorn to an already dying rose,The flower seemed to sigh achinglyLetting up its grasp on living any longer.I felt its heartache etched in my own heart.And upon the sands of the grief in the forsaken wellThe first petal tumble from the weak stemEnding the beauty that once dwelt there.